Rob Shoesmith, when not tidying up the streets, has developed a ‘user-generated advice service’ for the iPhone. Photograph: Andrew Fox

Got an idea for a killer iPhone app? With more than 1bn applications sold since its launch last July, Apple's iPhone App Store has become one of the fastest-growing tech enterprises in recent history, and gained a reputation as something of a developer's goldmine.

Success stories such as that of Ethan Nicholas, whose iShoot app has earned him $900,000 (£567,000) in eight months, have only added to the App Store's appeal for would-be iPhone entrepreneurs.

"The runaway success of the App Store has created the legend of the iPhone millionaire," says Dave Swartz, principal of MEDL Mobile, a company aiming to make it possible to get your idea into the App Store without technical knowledge or financial outlay.

"As iPhone app developers, everywhere we went people would say: 'I've got a great idea for an app.' We saw an opportunity to level the playing field and allow anyone the ability to become the next success story, regardless of their ability to program or write code."

App under wraps

So Swartz and his MEDL partner, Andrew Maltin, launched App Incubator, a service offering to turn great ideas into apps in return for a share of the profits.

Rob Shoesmith, a 27-year-old binman from Coventry, submitted one of the first ideas selected by MEDL for App Incubator development. Shoesmith says he has only had an iPhone for a few months, but has been following the growth of the App Store since its launch. He wants to keep the specifics of his app under wraps until its launch, but describes it as a user-generated advice service.

"The idea just popped into my head," says Shoesmith. "I don't have a technology background, but I do have lots of ideas. Until now I hadn't been able to find anyone to develop them." The App Store boom means programmers are in demand, and the cost of hiring a developer to build an app can be prohibitively expensive.

Swartz says Shoesmith's app taps into a current trend toward social connectivity, and he expects it to be successful. "I imagine that Rob's app will help a lot of people," he says. "Also, Rob himself is very tenacious and dedicated, and we are looking for people who are excited to go on the journey with us, not just hand us an idea and sit back while we build and market it."

MEDL has so far received more than 12,000 idea submissions from 5,000 applicants. Swartz says that about a third of the ideas were interesting enough to be flagged for consideration.

"There were more great ideas than we expected," he says. "In general, people are looking for a tool to make their lives easier, or they are looking to take an area that fascinates them and share it with the world. But there are also a lot of people out there who think their iPhone can be used to open their garage doors. As of right now, as far as I know, it can't."

With App Incubator, there are no upfront costs, although profits generated by the apps are split 75/25 in MEDL's favour. If you don't fancy giving up 75% of your killer app earnings, you may be tempted to try developing it yourself.

Ethan Nicholas built iShoot from scratch, spending six weeks developing the artillery combat game on his sofa. "With the exception of licenced sound and images, I developed iShoot single-handedly," he says. The app has sold almost half a million copies, and Nicholas recently launched iShoot 2.0. Asked whether he has been surprised by its success he says, "I'm so far past surprised that there isn't even a word for it."

Nicholas sees no reason why other app developers shouldn't have similar success – "iShoot certainly isn't alone," he says. "Many developers have struck it rich on the App Store. I'm certainly trying my hand at it again, and am busily coding away on my next game."

Speaking the language

Apple actively encourages independent app development, offering a free downloadable Software Development Kit through the iPhone Dev Center. But, unless you're prepared to tackle programming languages such as Cocoa Touch and Objective-C, you may find it easier to hire a pro.

The website designer William Kehl had an idea for a music sequencing app, and tried to build it himself, but found that the task of building an iPhone app required skills that were outside of his experience. "It proved to be very difficult," he says. "iPhone apps are based on an MVC (Model-View-Controller) architecture, and this was something I hadn't dealt with ­previously."

Struggling to find a developer who could help, Kehl decided to set up iPhone Freelancer, a website that connects "ideas people" to programmers and developers. "We have approximately 600 members, and a pool of about 300 developers who receive a notification whenever someone posts a new project," he says. "I would estimate we've had close to 100 projects completed."

Kehl says he has seen "pretty basic" app ideas built for around $500 (£315) through his website, but more complicated apps, such as games, tend to command development fees of around $5,000. With more than 40,000 apps already competing for attention at the App Store, and more than 2,700 new apps being submitted every month (according to figures collated at 148apps.biz), shelling out thousands to develop an app may represent an ­expensive gamble.

Swartz hopes that the risk factor will encourage more people to submit their ideas to the App Incubator. "The future is really exciting," he says. "Our goal is to build 1,000 apps in the next two years. I'd love to become known as the company that created hundreds of iPhone millionaires across the world."

Shoesmith expects his app to appear in the App Store within the next few weeks, and is recording its progress on his Twitter feed. "I hope it can make it into the App Store's Top 100," he says. "If I do make any money from it, I might use that to develop more of my ideas."